Reading matter for Spring and Summer
Though posts have become scarce around here lately, there’s always time for my roughly bi-seasonal column of reading recommendations. On this occasion I will expose what I’m currently reading or planning on reading this Summer; either way, the quality of the following books is apparent even before getting any close to the final chapters. Without further ado:
Death by black hole and other cosmic quandaries, by Neil deGrasse Tyson, 384 pages, published by W. W. Norton - ISBN-13: 978-0-393-06224-3 - this book is a collection of essays on the cosmos written by an astrophysicist who has the gift of being able to render complex concepts, such as the inner workings of black holes (or what is currently understood about them) or the Doppler effect, very clear without trivializing them in the process. And, as the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, he also knows what he’s talking about. I find his presentations always enlightening and at the same time very user-friendly.
3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development, by Fletcher Dunn and Ian Parberry, 476 pages, published by Wordware Publishing - ISBN-13: 978-1-55622-911-4 - for some reason I did not have a specific, introductory book on 3D mathematics, and although I have managed to live without one by studying information in other books and/or the Net, I’ve been wanting for some time to find all such information neatly collected in one spot. This book may be what I was looking for, as it spans from the basics of coordinate systems up to and including space partitioning techniques, and contrary to similar books on 3D math it explains the concepts rather than just presenting results. Moreover it intermixes formulas, figures and code samples (rather than relegating code to a CD for example) in a way that I find useful for keeping the focus on the matter that is being read at any given time.
More Effective C++: 35 New Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs, by Scott Meyers, 336 pages, published by Addison-Wesley Professional - ISBN-13: 978-0-201-63371-9 - there is not much to say about this book than is not already known. If you really want to learn C++ (much beyond simply syntax), and you’ve liked the previous book by Meyers on the subject (”Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs” - wait, if you really want to learn C++, then you must have read that one and loved it by now), then this is for you, too. Covering more advanced techniques than the first in the series, it will be a useful addition to your library.
It’s hot outside, stay home and read a book. Unless it’s Winter where you live, in that case you can start over with my wintry recommendations ("Books for the Fall of Winter").
